MAKER'S HAND 2015

'Blush' ~ wet felted merino wool & silk

If I measure  year in the time it takes to prepare for the Maker's Hand show and sale ... it seems as though that ten months from January until the first weekend in November moves in fast forward and disappears in the blink of an eye.  I have a few days before set up on Thursday and the sale which begins on Friday November 6th!  Check it out at The Maker's Hand 2015

This year I have all kinds of makings along with all the lovely felted hats so there are lots of photos in this post!  I am still madly tagging all the finished items.  Of course, as with any maker, there is a long list of ideas and other things still to make but now they will have to wait until later. I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be! 

Blue Moon' ~ felted merino, alpaca & silk

Smudge' ~ felted merino & silk

Militaria' ~ felted Gotland, merino & silk

'Bletchley' ~ felted Gotland, merino & soy fibre

'Floral' head wreath

This 'Floral' head wreath took me two days to make and I am really quite in love with it. I wanted to make about ten more... but ... there is also life and this gorgeous autumn with leaves to rake and wonderful yoga classes to attend and other stuff besides felting that has to get done. Felting is a wonderful (but big) investment in time and energy and I love every minute I spend making felted things. The results are always so inspiring (and worth the effort) which leads to new ideas and beautiful colour challenges. One of the things I like the most about felting for a show and sale like The Maker's Hand is seeing people connect to felt for the first time. When someone recognizes the magic of felt there is this intrinsic and intimate attachment not only to something beautiful and handmade but also to the ancient traditions surrounding felt. Maybe it's that which sums up the thrill of creating wearable art with your bare hands using ancient techniques, beautiful natural wool and silk fibres and all natural ingredients (water and olive oil soap).  

'Cafe Au Lait' ~ felted merino & silk

 

'Autumn' head wreath

Just for a change of pace I decided to make a few iPad or tablet covers along with phone cases in various sizes.  I really enjoyed making these and had some fun not only with colours but also designing the fasteners using flowers and stems. 
First are the iPad / Tablet covers ~

These are the iPhone / Android covers which can also be used as lovely little pouches for other things as well ~

 

iPhone or Android phone covers or pouches

Flowers are always part of the mix.  Some are for hats, some for broaches or hair clips, some are single free standing decorations and others are sculptural statements with stems and roots.  Beautiful flowers lend themselves very well to felt.  

And then there is felted soap.  I use bars of gently fragrant goats milk soap which lather through the felted covering. It's like soap and a colourful wash cloth all in one and continues to felt as it is used. Lovely and soft to the touch! 

CakeTin Soap

Wristlets